Micturition, defecation and sexual dysfunctions result from damage to the central autonomic centers of spinal sympathetic and parasympathetic nuclear regions or to the peripheral autonomic ganglia and nerves.
Electric stimulation devices, as described in e.g. US 2006/0190047 A1, are known in the field of micturition disorders, i.e. disorders of the urine-passing and bladder system. Such stimulation devices have, until now, already been used for micturition disorders of other types. By contrast, only medicinal therapies or much more invasive measures are offered to patients with paraplegia and neurogenic disturbances of micturition. However, the minimally invasive implantation thereof is advantageous.
Spinal paraplegia, a synonym for paraplegia, paraplegic lesions, transversal syndrome, is understood to mean a group of symptoms that occur if the nerve lines in the spinal cord are interrupted. The cause can be injury to the spinal cord, e.g. in the case of vertebral fractures, or else tumors and other specific diseases, e.g. multiple sclerosis. Here there is neuronal dysfunction from the region of the damage, which may, e.g. in the region of the urogenital tract, lead to incontinence/problems when passing urine, detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (DSD) and to a loss of sexual functions and bowel movements (dysfunction of the lesser pelvis).
The most difficult event, DSD, leads to impaired coordination of the musculature required for a normal bladder function with the formation of residual urine and increased intravesical pressure during micturition. This can lead to detrusor damage, vesicoureteral reflux and, ultimately, to kidney damage as a result thereof.
Moreover, the sexual functionality may also be greatly impaired in the case of paraplegia, particularly in the case of male patients due to the inability of having an erection.
Previous minimally-invasive therapies utilize stimulation electrodes, which are implanted at suitable positions, and support/take over the required stimulation of the neuronal structures. Here, the implantation is matched individually to the most successful stimulation result, which in turn significantly depends on the position of the electrode in respect of the musculature to be stimulated.
A problem here is that the position of the electrodes may shift at a later time because there is a movement of the body and the tissue that holds the electrode. The precise and matched positioning is lost in the process.